Central govt officials resist Aadhaar integration for health benefits despite mandate: Report

Over 3,100 Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes and 360 public services strictly demand Aadhaar-based authentication from ordinary citizens, often targeting the poorest sections of society. However, the central government bureaucracy that enforces these mandates has persistently resisted linking its own Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) cards to Aadhaar, as reported by Times of India.

According to the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Aadhaar integration "has helped state ensure targeted, transparent and leak-proof delivery while eliminating duplicate and ineligible beneficiaries." Yet, government officials appear reluctant to practice what they preach.

While a normal worker must undergo Aadhaar authentication to draw a daily wage under welfare programmes, central government employees enjoy voluntary status for CGHS linkage. The government issued office memoranda attempting to mandate Aadhaar integration several times starting in June 2015, only to withdraw the orders following intense internal pushback.

The most recent withdrawal occurred in July 2024, when authorities suspended a directive requiring CGHS beneficiary IDs to be linked with Ayushman Bharat Health Account IDs created via Aadhaar, as per the Times of India report. The directive was placed "in abeyance till further orders," effectively rendering compliance optional for civil servants, the report added.

Bureaucrats justify this exemption by contending that CGHS is a contributory setup rather than a traditional welfare scheme funded via Direct Benefit Transfer, the report said. However, records show that roughly 90 per cent of CGHS spending comes directly from the Consolidated Fund of India, with employee contributions accounting for only a fraction of total annual expenditure.

Unlike other federal services, CGHS does not conduct annual verifications to clear deceased pensioners or ineligible dependents from its rolls. Pensioner cards generated at the beginning of CGHS computerisation in 2005 remain continuously active without periodic identity checks, escalating the potential for fraud and unauthorized utilisation.

Other public sector medical frameworks — such as the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) and the Railway Health Scheme — have successfully made Aadhaar linkage mandatory, as per the Times of India report. Consequently, CGHS maintains a significantly higher per capita expenditure compared to those schemes, a disparity that would expand further if unverified accounts were purged from the system.

CGHS beneficiaries encompass active and retired central government personnel, family members, current and former Members of Parliament, sitting and retired judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, and accredited journalists based in Delhi.